You and Your Money

The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the selection of Holly Petraeus to establish the Office of Servicemember Affairs being built by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) implementation team currently housed at Treasury.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act signed into law by President Obama last summer explicitly requires the creation of such an office within the CFPB. Servicemembers and their families have been targets of unscrupulous lenders in the past.

The Office of Servicemember Affairs will seek to work in partnership with the Department of Defense to help ensure that: military families receive the financial education they need to make the best financial decisions for them; complaints and questions from military families are monitored and responded to; and federal and state agencies coordinate their activities to improve consumer protection measures for military families.

“One way we can begin to pay our debt to those who serve is by strengthening protections against financial abuse,” noted Neal S. Wolin, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. “That’s why we are fortunate – and grateful – that Holly has agreed to lead the effort to stand up the CFPB’s Office of Servicemember Affairs.”

“Holly understands—from both her personal experience as a military spouse and her work as Director of the Better Business Bureau Military Line—that men and women in our armed forces encounter unique financial obstacles,” said Elizabeth Warren, Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the CFPB. “In this important role, Holly will continue her work to strengthen consumer financial protection for servicemembers.”

“It’s been my great privilege to be part of the military community my entire life, explained Petreaus. “I am honored to have the opportunity both to represent them and to support them as a part of this new consumer protection agency, and I pledge that I will do my utmost to see that their concerns are heard and addressed.”